Sustainable Arlington

LED Street Lights Come to Arlington.

Street lighting is one of Arlington’s biggest utility costs.  The Town took steps six years ago to reduce this expense by installing high pressure sodium streetlights (HPS).  HPS shrank the annual street lighting bill by $90,000 and cut energy consumption in half, from 2.4 million kWh to 1.2 million kWh.  Today, LED technology offers additional opportunities for savings and improved safety. Compared to HPS streetlights, LED’s are twice as energy efficient and provide a 300% improvement in color rendering, better overall distribution of light, and last twice as long.  The longer-lasting LED’s also reduce maintenance costs.

DO YOU RIDE THE BUS IN ARLINGTON?

MassDOT has released proposed fare increase and service reduction plans for the MBTA aimed at closing a projected $161 million budget gap for fiscal year 2013. Two scenarios are being presented. Scenario 1 involves fare increases averaging 43% with minor reductions in services. Scenario 2 involves fare increases averaging 35% with substantial reductions in services.

For Arlington, the bus service reductions in Scenario 1 would only eliminate weekend service on route 78. The service reductions in Scenario 2 would entirely eliminate bus routes 62, 67, 76, 78, 80 & 350 currently serving Arlington. The only buses remaining in Arlington in this scenario would be routes 77, 79, 84 and 87.

The MBTA will host public hearings in January, February and March. None will be held in Arlington. See below for details on meetings in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston. See the MBTA web site for a full list of meetings.

Rain Garden: planted in time for the storm

Thanks to the folks who came out on a cloudy Sunday, the Spy Pond Park rain garden is planted looking great. As the next few days bring several inches of rain, the garden's plants and soil will be at work filtering pollutants carried by storm water, helping cleanse the water that flows directly to Spy Pond.

Excerpted from the Rachel Carlson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine

 

What is a Rain Garden?

Here before you is a rain garden: a man-made depression designed to absorb precipitation runoff from surrounding impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways,walkways and lawns. Impervious surfaces act as a barrier to groundwater recharge by preventing surface waters from soaking into the ground. As the number of impervious surfaces increases worldwide, the incidence of surface water pollution and flooding events increase as well. Rain gardens, although small, are a great way to combat the problems associated with runoff from impervious surfaces. During storm events, rain gardens mimic natural drainage conditions. Planted vegetationtakes up excess water alloing the remaining water to slowly filter through the soil loyers before entering the groundwater system. This prevents both local flooding and the formation of standing water pools that can harbor mosquito larvae.

Benefits of a Rain Garden:

Filter runoff pollution

Recharge local groundwater

Conserve water

Improve water quality

Protect rivers, ponds and streams

Require little maintenance

Remove standing water

Reduce mosquito breeding

Reduce potential of local flooding

Create habitat for birds and butterflies

Plants survive in drought seasons